Triana Brandt
|Row 5 title = Former Affiliations:|Row 5 info = |Row 6 title = Relatives:|Row 6 info = Edmund Brandt (father, deceased) Saoirse Ó’Faoláin (mother, deceased) |caption1 = Art by takacukasa|caption2 = Art by takacukasa|Row 7 title = Status:|Row 7 info = (Presumed)}} The only child of a royal guard of Lordaeron, Triana was raised around the inner circles of Lordaeronian society, though she was never quite part of it. When Lordaeron fell to the Plague, her church education earned her a place as a cleric within the Scarlet Crusade at New Avalon, and her experience with the nobility earned her trust amongst the Scarlet elite. She accompanied Brigitte Abbendis on her ill-fated expedition to Northrend, where she was one of the first converts to the Raven Conclave and soon one of its most notable evangelists and oracles. When Archbishop Landgren met his end at the hands of the Knights of the Ebon Blade and the Grand Admiral disappeared, Sister Triana took charge of the Raven Conclave and proclaimed herself Landgren's successor as Archbishop of the Church of the Holy Light. It can be assumed that the clergy of the Conclave still active in Northrend are under her command, though her own whereabouts and activities are unknown. Description This woman could be called a beauty, but an otherworldly one. There is something in this woman's eyes and bearing that tells you that she is not like you. Triana is slender and tall, standing upright at 5'9", with strong shoulders and stately bearing. She keeps her raven locks long, tumbling down her chest. After years under Northrend's sullen sun, she has become deathly pale, which only accentuates her unnatural violet eyes and the intricate markings that surround them. Her face is almost elven, with high cheekbones and regal features. She has a long stride, but takes her steps slow. While a priestess, Triana does not dress like one; after all, one does not survive the blades of the damned in silks. Triana wears thick padded leather, over which she wears a breastplate and various other pieces of black-hued iron plate. She is never seen without a dark hood hanging low over her eyes, a long sable cloak spilling down her shoulders. She sometimes carries a long ash staff capped with the sigil of a raven in flight, but just as often she comes before you unarmed, yet somehow this makes her feel even more dangerous... History Triana was born in the closing years of the Second War, a result of a whirlwind romance between Sir Edmund Brandt, a knight-errant of Lordaeron, and Saoirse Ó’Faoláin, a Gilnean peasant living in southern Silverpine. From what can be gleaned, it seems Triana was born out of wedlock, with Brandt soon being deployed farther south as the war progressed, but after the war Saoirse and Edmund were married in a small ceremony in Ambermill. Shortly after the family moved north to Lordaeron's capital, where Edmund was recognized by the Crown for his service in the war and given a position among the king's royal guards. The Brandt family was not one of nobility, but due to Edmund's position, Triana grew up in relative comfort. Her family had been provided a homestead in the inner city near the palace; they attended the same church services as dukes and earls, and Triana was provided with a church education second only to the private tutors of the nobility. She was an eager and astute student, captivated by theology and history, and was well-respected by her teachers. When she came of age to formally become a neophyte, her teachers insisted upon it, and Triana officially joined the Church of the Holy Light. She was sent to the Tirisfal Monastery to begin her proper studies as a priestess. It was not long, however, before the Plague overtook Lordaeron. Triana, still a novitiate, was not deemed experienced enough to aid in the quarantine efforts, and as such remained secluded at the Monastery. Word did not reach the Monastery that her father had taken ill until after his death, which likely saved her life, as the Capital fell only days later. In the tumultuous years that followed, Triana served in both the Monastery and New Avalon, with the latter supplanting the former as her seat of education as the Monastery became increasingly isolated and besieged by Forsaken and Scourge alike. She was among several younger Church neophytes sent eastward to safer territory. Her education continued at New Avalon in an abbey overseen by Bishop Street until the year 26 LC, at which point she was, rather suddenly, initiated as a full cleric in the Church and sent to southwestern Lordaeron to join a Crusade sect known as the Scarlet Templar. As with many members of the Templar, her time with them was allegedly well-documented; however, many records involving her have been destroyed or removed since, an effort attributed to the Raven Conclave. The Crimson Dawn By 29 LC, Triana had returned to New Avalon and was chosen to accompany Brigitte Abbendis's Scarlet Onslaught to Northrend. She was under the direct supervision of Bishop Street during the Onslaught's early months, but she soon fell under the sway of Admiral Barean Westwind, becoming a trusted lieutenant and liaison between the Admiral and the clergy. While the High Abbot Landgren was technically her superior as High Abbot (and later Archbishop) and was responsible for the governance of the clergy, Triana was more often selected by Westwind for private excursions. The writings of Abbendis and her lieutenants indicate that, while Landgren and Abbendis's relationship soured over his adoption of the Raven ideology, he was still seen as a respectable person and a friend of the old order; Triana was seen by Westwind's ideological opponents as his puppet and little more, given little respect by those not subscribing to the Raven Conclave's ideology. Triana departed New Hearthglen with Westwind on his march to Icecrown in the later months of 29 LC, aiding in the establishment on Onslaught Harbor. Records from Onslaught Harbor are practically nonexistent, making her movements near impossible to track during this time. It is known that the Ebon Blade carried out assassinations on several key Onslaught figures during this time, including Landgren and Westwind, but Triana was either not considered a viable target for assassination or was unknown to the Ebon Blade, as she survived this culling of the Onslaught leadership. Alongside many surviving members of the Raven Conclave, Triana faded from history around this point. The Conclave was presumed to have died out in the subsequent months. The Raven Conclave Triana's exact whereabouts are still unknown; however, during the Legion's Third Invasion, an attack was carried out against New Hearthglen by an order of priests opposed to the Onslaught's ideology, and records found on the remains of Inquisitor Caspian Ward, a Raven Priest based out of New Hearthglen, indicated that both the Conclave and Triana herself are still active. Triana seems to have taken on the title of Archbishop, succeeding Landgren, and is seen in the eyes of the Conclave to be the true head of the Church of the Holy Light, a claim that is not recognized by any mainstream Light faith. The documents also implied infiltration of more mainstream Light-based organizations by Raven disciples, though evidence of this has not been found. Due to escalating violence between the Horde and Alliance, little time has been able to be committed to rooting out any Raven infiltrators or finding Triana or other high-ranking members of the Conclave. However, it can be stated with some degree of certainty that she is alive, or at least believed to be by the Conclave's members. Titles The titles of Triana Brandt by-and-large assume the succession of the Scarlet Crusade's Landgren to the position of Archbishop of Church of the Holy Light, as opposed to Stormwind's Benedictus or one of the other claimants, as well as the ascent of other notable Scarlet adherents to the position of Bishop of Northrend, among others. As such, her claims are rarely, if ever, recognized outside the various Scarlet orders. Trivia * Triana was known to be so fond of a traditional Lyuudri sweet called sakuramochi, named for the legendary Dróttinn Sakura Shan, that her father would call her Mochi. * Triana was a character originally conceived for her writer's WarCraft 3 mod Chasing the Dawn, and she closely mirrors her CtD counterpart. Because of this, she has an actual voice actress attached to her character as a voice claim. Category:Characters Category:Scarlet Onslaught Category:Characters Category:Lordaeronian Category:Human Category:Priests Category:Scarlet Crusade Category:Archbishops Category:Raven Conclave Category:Strongarm's Onslaught Category:Lyuudri